After claims that President Ali Abdullah died in hospital following health complications this Thursday, his aides confirmed that such allegations are completely outlandish.
Former President Saleh is said to be recuperated in Sana’a, Saudi German hospital after a scheduled ear operation. His personal aid told reporters that while he remained under observation, his vitals were strong. He is expected to recover without any complications.
Earlier this Thursday several news outlets quoted medical sources as saying that the former president had died following a heart attack, others claimed that he was taken to hospital some days ago and had failed to recover from a coma.
As it turned out, President Saleh suffered neither the former, nor the latter.
This is not the first time former President Saleh has been wrongly reported dead. Back in 2011, when a bomb tore through the presidential mosque where he was performing Friday congregational prayer, President Saleh was within minutes of the blast rumoured dead.
In critical condition, he was transported to Saudi Arabia where he underwent eight back to back surgeries. Although President Saleh made a remarkable recovery given the extent of the injuries he sustained in the explosion, his health has been ever since the subject of much debate and conjectures.
Three years after his resignation from power, former President Saleh still commands much media attention; a man of many controversies and contrasts, very much to the image of the country he led for over three decades with an iron fist.